|
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
All the World is a Stage"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players." - Shakespeare
Shakespeare,
a great student of life and people, saw through the illusion of life and understood that we play our roles and characters
during our time on Earth. Our world is our stage and we have many scripts available to us. Some roles we are born into, such
as race, class, and religion. Other roles we choose to play, such as being a parent, a spouse, or a even a homeowner.
In my own case, I went to school for law, then became a business owner, until finally answering a call to be a healing facilitator.
I have had these roles in my life and I truly enjoy helping people heal their lives and bodies. Similarly, I am certain that
there are roles in your life that you enjoy as well. The challenge comes when we over identify with a character we are playing.
We have heard this past summer how the actor Heath Ledger may have over identified with the character
of the Joker he portrayed, leading him to experience a deep depression. What we need to realize is that anytime we over identify
with a role we are playing we run the risk of falling victim to ego and illusion. We may play parents, spouses, employees,
etc. but that is not who we are. We have the choice to change our characters and change our roles.
Improv is acting with fluid roles and fluid characters. As our lives change we need to change with them. If we try to hold
onto a role when it needs to be released we create difficulties for ourselves. The challenge is to play our roles and characters
with joy and passion but not to become limited or trapped by them.
12:43 pm est
|
